Immunizations are good for grams and gramps, moms and pops, and little ‘uns of all ages. But, wow it’s hard to keep up with who’s supposed to get what, and when they’re supposed to get it.

Every year about this time, the CDC puts out a revised immunization schedule. I’m not sure how many people wait on the edge of their seats for the schedule to come out. I think it’s one of those things that we should care about, that some of us actually do care about, but that’s not as exciting as waiting for the next Star Wars movie to come out.

Exciting or not, immunizations do help keep us healthy. They’re important! So, let’s briefly go over the changes for this year.

For all of us, the usual vaccines are on the schedule, plus there are a few vaccines that need particular attention.

In addition to the existing meningitis vaccines, there are currently two vaccines that protect against meningitis B. The ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) approved the recommendation that kids 10 years of age and older who are at higher risk for infection should get vaccinated against this strain of meningitis.

Young people ages 16-23 years who are not at higher risk for infection may get vaccinated, and should check with their providers to see about doing so.

We strongly encourage young people to protect themselves against meningitis B through immunization, unless their providers determine there are medical reasons not to do so.

There is a vaccine that protects against nine strains of the human papillomavirus. There are also vaccines available that protect against fewer strains of HPV, but we believe it’s important to protect kids as thoroughly as possible. We suggest you talk to your provider to see which HPV vaccine you or those you love should get. This vaccine is typically given between ages 11 and 12, but as with all vaccines, you can usually follow a catch-up schedule if you miss some immunizations.

There are more vaccines on the schedule. What you should get depends on many factors—check with your healthcare provider about what you need to stay up-to-date on your immunizations.

HPV is short for human papillomavirus. About 20 million people in the United States, most in their teens and early 20s, are infected with HPV.

Not only does HPV cause almost all cervical cancers in women, it’s also responsible for other types of cancer. HPV causes mouth and throat cancer, as well as anal cancer in both women and men.

HPV can cause cancers of the vulva and vagina in women, and cancer of the penis in men. In the United States each year, there are about 18,000 women and 7,000 men affected by HPV-related cancers.

Most of the HPV infections that cause these cancers could be prevented with vaccination.

HPV-related cancers can be devastating, as Jacquelyn, a cancer survivor and mother of two preschoolers, attests.

Soon after her second child was born, Jacquelyn was diagnosed with cervical cancer and needed a total hysterectomy. “My husband and I had been together for 15 years, and we were planning to have more children—that isn’t going to happen now,” says Jacquelyn.

Although they caught Jacquelyn’s cervical cancer early, she still has medical appointments that take time away from her family, friends and work. “Every time the doctor calls, I hold my breath until I get the results. Cancer is always in the back of my mind.”

HPV vaccines offer the greatest health benefits to individuals who receive all three doses before having any type of sexual activity. That’s why HPV vaccination is recommended for preteen girls and boys at age 11 or 12 years.

The connection between vaccinating kids now to protect them from cancer later isn’t lost on Jacquelyn. “I will protect my son and daughter by getting them the HPV vaccine as soon as they each turn 11. I tell everyone to get their children the HPV vaccine series to protect them from these kinds of cancers.”

HPV vaccines are given in a series of 3 shots over 6 months. It is very important to complete all 3 shots to get the best protection. More than 46 million doses of HPV vaccine have been given out, and vaccine studies continue to show that HPV vaccines are safe.

If your son or daughter hasn’t started or finished the HPV vaccine series yet—it’s not too late! Now is a good time to ask their doctor or nurse about vaccines for your preteens and teens. Visit www.cdc.gov/hpv to learn more about HPV and HPV vaccines.

Adults know to wash hands and wear condoms to prevent infections. And we try to eat fruits and veggies to stay healthy. Some days, we even exercise.

One thing we don’t do enough of is get vaccinated.

Other than the flu vaccine in the autumn, I seldom think about vaccines for myself. I bet I’m not alone.

But, we should remember to vaccinate.

We make sure our kids wear seatbelts and helmets, cross the street at the light and keep a weather eye on the ocean for sneaker waves, and get all the vaccines they need.

For the most part, we follow the same safety rules, except for that one about vaccines.

I am determined to get myself fully vaccinated and to nag encourage friends to do the same. I don’t want to get sick and think “if only.”

If you’re like-minded, I’ve listed the diseases for which there are vaccines for adults 19 years of age and older. Not every adult will need every vaccine, so print out this post and take it to your provider, find out what vaccines you need, and realize that you may need more vaccines if you’re traveling outside the US:

Flu is a respiratory illness. It can cause fever, chills, sore throat, cough, muscle or body aches, headaches, tiredness, and a runny or stuffy nose. You get over it after several miserable days, unless you develop complications, some of which can be life-threatening.

Tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis vaccines are combined for adults. Tetanus is caused by certain bacteria entering the body through a break in the skin. It’s the one that causes lockjaw, and can cause spasms and seizures. It has a surprisingly high death rate of 10 – 20% of cases. Diphtheria is caused by bacteria spread person-to-person and can damage the heart, kidneys and nerves. Pertussis, also called whooping cough, is a very contagious disease caused by bacteria. In some parts of the world, it’s called the 100-day cough. The “whoop” is most often heard from babies, for whom it can be a lethal infection.

Varicella, also called chickenpox, is a virus that spreads easily and causes a blistery rash, itching and fever. For some, it can cause severe complications including pneumonia or sepsis.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted infection that is very common in the population. Most people get it and get over it, but some will develop genital warts or cervical or other types of cancers.

Zoster or shingles is caused by once having had chickenpox. The virus stays in the body after the chickenpox clears up and goes away, and years later can reactivate, causing pain and itching, followed by a rash.

Measles, mumps, rubella vaccines are also combined for adults. Measles is caused by a virus that makes you feel like you have a bad cold, along with a rash on the body and white spots in the mouth. It can develop into pneumonia or ear infections, sometimes requiring hospitalization. Rubella is also caused by a virus and brings with it a rash and fever. This infection can be devastating to the fetus if a woman is pregnant when infected. Mumps is caused by a virus with symptoms of fever, fatigue and muscle aches followed by the swelling of the salivary glands. Rarely it will cause fertility problems in men, meningitis or deafness.

Pneumococcal disease is caused by bacteria and can appear as pneumonia, meningitis, or a bloodstream infection, all of which can be dangerous.

Meningococcal disease is caused by various bacteria, and the available vaccines prevent many of these infections. The symptoms are varied and include nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light and mental confusion. This disease can lead to brain damage, hearing loss, or learning disabilities.

Hepatitis A is caused by a virus. It’s generally a mild liver disease, but can rarely severely damage the liver.

Hepatitis B is also caused by a virus that damages the liver. Most adults are infected for a short time, but some become chronically infected. The infection can cause jaundice, cirrhosis or even liver cancer.

When it comes to their kids, parents are always planning. Healthy dinners. Safe activities.

One plan that’s easy to make could have a tremendous benefit, even saving a life. That’s planning to have preteens vaccinated against HPV, the leading cause of cervical and anal cancers.

“There are about 12,000 new cervical cancer cases each year in the United States,” says Dr. Melinda Wharton, deputy director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Cervical cancer causes about 4,000 deaths in U.S. women each year. But vaccinating boys and girls against HPV greatly reduces the chances that today’s girls will ever have to face this devastating disease.”

CDC recommends HPV vaccination for 11- and 12-year-old girls and boys, as well as for young women ages 13 through 26 and young men ages 13 through 21 who have not yet been vaccinated.

Two HPV vaccines—Cervarix and Gardasil—are available for girls to protect against the HPV types that cause most cervical and anal cancers. Gardasil also protects against the HPV types that cause most genital warts. Gardasil is the only vaccine approved for boys.

Both brands of HPV vaccine are given in three doses (shots) over six months, and protection requires all three doses. “Completing the three-dose HPV vaccine series is very important to ensure protection against HPV-related disease,” adds Dr. Wharton.

While vaccinating against a sexually transmitted virus at age 11 or 12 might seem unnecessary, the preteen years are the best time to vaccinate. “The HPV vaccine only provides protection if it is given before exposure to HPV,” says Dr. Wharton. “Someone can be infected with HPV the very first time they have sexual contact with another person.”

To get the most benefit from HPV vaccination, all three doses must be received before any kind of sexual activity with another person begins.

Atlanta mom Amber Zirkle recognizes the importance of vaccinating her children now for protection they’ll need in the future. Her 11-year-old daughter will get an HPV vaccine this year at her regular check-up. As for getting HPV vaccine for her 16-year-old son, Amber says, “I didn’t know it was available for boys. I’ll talk with the pediatrician about it.” She adds, “Genital warts aren’t something I want my son to deal with.”

Other vaccines recommended specifically for preteens include meningococcal conjugate, which protects against bacterial meningitis, and Tdap, which boosts immunity against pertussis (whooping cough). Everyone age six months and older should get an annual flu vaccine.

Have you or a loved one ever had an abnormal Pap smear result? If precancerous cells were identified, the cause was almost undoubtedly infection with human papillomavirus (HPV). Almost all cases of cervical cancer arise because of infection with this virus. Yet a vaccine can prevent infection with the strains that most commonly cause cervical cancer.

A vaccine against cancer. It’s true.

For the vaccine to work, though, a woman must have it before HPV infects her. You may find it difficult to look at your daughter, especially a pre-teen daughter, and think of that scenario. But the fact is that even if your daughter avoids all sexual contact until, say, her wedding night, she can still contract HPV from her partner. It happens to be the most common sexually transmitted infection.

About 20 million Americans have an HPV infection, and 6 million people become newly infected every year. Half of the people who are ever sexually active pick up an HPV infection in a lifetime. That means your daughter, even if she waits until her wedding night, has a 1 in 2 chance of contracting the virus. Unless it’s a strain that causes genital warts, HPV usually produces no symptoms, and the infected person doesn’t even know they’ve been infected.

Until the cancer shows up.

And it can show up in more places than the cervix. This virus, you see, favors a certain kind of tissue, one that happens to be present in several parts of you. This tissue, a type of epithelium, is a thin layer of the skin and mucous membranes. It’s available for viral invasion in the cervix, vagina, vulva, anus, and the mouth and pharynx. In fact, HPV is poised to replace tobacco as the major cause of oral cancers in the United States.

The virus can even sometimes pass from mother to child, causing recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, or warts in the throat that must be removed periodically and can sometimes become cancerous. It strikes about 2000 children each year in the United States.

How does a virus cause cancer? To understand that, you must first understand cancer. You may know that cells reproduce by dividing, and that cancer occurs when cells divide out of control. Behind most cancers is a malfunction in the molecules that tell cells to stop dividing. These molecules operate in a chain reaction of signaling, like a series of well-timed stoplights along a boulevard. If one starts sending an inappropriate “go” signal or fails to send a “stop” signal, the cell divides, making more cells just like it that also lack the right signals. If your body’s immune system doesn’t halt this inappropriate growth, we call it cancer.

The blueprint for building these “stop” molecules is in your genes, in your DNA sequences. As a virus, HPV also requires a blueprint to make more viruses. Viruses use the division machinery of the host cell—in you—to achieve reproduction by stealthily inserting their own DNA blueprint into the host DNA.

Sometimes, when it’s finished with the host, a virus leaves a little bit of its DNA behind. If that leftover DNA is in the middle of the blueprint for a “stop” molecule, the cell won’t even notice. It will use the contaminated instructions to build a molecule, one that no longer functions in stopping cell division. The result can be cancer.

Of the 150 HPV types or strains, about 40 of which pass through sexual contact, two in particular are associated with cancer, types 16 and 18. They are the ones that may persist for years and eventually change the cellular blueprint. The vaccines developed against those two strains are, therefore, anti-cancer vaccines.

Without a successful viral infection, viral DNA can’t disrupt your DNA. That’s what the HPV vaccine achieves against the two strains responsible for about 70% of cervical cancers. Recent high-profile people have made claims about negative effects of this vaccine, claims that have been thoroughly debunked. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as always offers accurate information about the side effects associated with available HPV vaccines.

This achievement against cancer, including prevention of almost 100% of precancerous cervical changes related to types 16 and 18, is important.

Worldwide, a half million women receive a cervical cancer diagnosis each year, and 250,000 women die from it. These women are somebody’s daughter, wife, sister, friend. Women from all kinds of backgrounds, with all kinds of sexual histories.

Women whose precancerous cervical changes are identified in time often still must undergo uncomfortable and sometimes painful procedures to get rid of the precancerous cells. These invasive procedures include cone biopsies that require shots to numb the cervix and removal of a chunk of tissue from it. Cone biopsies carry a risk of causing infertility or miscarriage or preterm delivery. A vaccine for your daughter could prevent it all.

HPV doesn’t care if your daughter has had sex before. It’s equally oblivious to whether the epithelium it infects is in the cervix or in the mouth or pharynx or in an adult or a child. What it does respond to is antibodies that a body makes in response to the vaccine stimulus.

Even if your daughter’s first and only sex partner passes along one of the cancer-associated strains, if she’s been vaccinated, her antibodies will take that virus out cold. It’s a straightforward prevention against a lifetime of worry—and a premature death.

For more info: Facts about the HPV vaccine from the National Cancer Institute

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Disclaimer

The information on PKIDs' Blog is for educational purposes only and should not be considered to be medical advice. It is not meant to replace the advice of the physician who cares for you or your child. All medical advice and information should be considered to be incomplete without a physical exam, which is not possible without a visit to your doctor.